Clutch-pedal-release mechanism



- i "ABLE COPY' March 30 1926. 1,578,615

c. e. TOOTLE CLUTCH PEDAL RELEASE MECHANISM I File ly 25 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 awenfor album/ 1 March 30 1926. 1,578,615

C. G. TOQTLE CLIU'ICHv PEDAL RELEASE MECHANISM Filed July 14, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q oof/s Id I -- Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

UNITED STATES" V g 1 1 15p.

CURTIS G. Too'rLE, or ATLANTA GEOBGiA. if j c UroH-rnnAL-RELEAsE MECHAfiISM. Q

To all whom it may 007110679 1.

Be it known that I, CURTIS G. TooirLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in thecounty of-Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n a ClutehrPedal-Release Mechanism, of whichth e-following a specification.

This invention has reference to a mechanism which is adapted to be incorporated in the planetary transmission of the-kind em ployed inFord cars, and'it has more particular reference to a novelmeansffornoo'v ing the clutch pedal to neutral position lautomatically when the brake pedal is de pressed to apply the brakes.

In the present pedal arrangement on Ford cars, there are three pedals, thebrake the reverse, and the clutch which functionsadditlonally for throwing the transmission into high and low speeds When appl'yingthe brakes, it is necessary to release the'clu'tch, and this means that the operator must'place his foot upon the clutch pedalv and brake pedal at the same time, forcingl the' vclutch pedal siightly'forivard to dispose it in neuf tral position; and completely;depressing brake pedalpw- V p What I propose is a novel mechanism wherein a connection is afforded between the shanks of the brakeand clutch pedals so that "when the brake pedal isdepresserlto v render it operative, the clutch pedalis auto matically moved into neutral.

My principal. object is to provide ceedingly simple and inexpensive arrange:

ment of parts for accomplishing this end in a highly practical and efficient manner with p out requiring alteration-of the stock parts.

Other ob'ects, features and advanta es of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and drawing. v

In the accompanying drawingflform-ing a part of this application; and in which like numerals are employed, to designate like parts throughout the same:

Figure 1 1s aside elevation'al view she-w ing the usual structure together with the improvement associated therewith Y Figure), 1S a section takenapproximately upon the plane-0t the line 2'2 of Figure 1.

Figure 8 isa detail view of a connecting link. i 1

Figure t is a View like Figure 1 showing a slightly difie ent embodiment of th -invention.

Figure 5 is avie w like Figure 2 showing a different embodimentof clamp.

In the dra'wing,'the reference characterl designates the, shank of the usual" brake,

fpedalfl designatesthe corresponding part of the intermediate reverse pedal, and 3gdesig-1 it nates the same partof the clutchpedal. I As customary, the'clutch pedal is providedkwith Y rear end th'islever 5 i'sj provided with acusdepending, foot 1.1 -The connection prefer;

ably ro'mprising; a bar 12 provided LWithFa slot 13 having slidablefconnection, with the pin 11. The intermediate;portion;of the baris bowed slightly upwarcmnd the oppo e site [end is formed withijasorew threaded socket 1 1 with whi ch a screw threaded rod 15 has adpistable connection. Obviously,

the rod is connected with theffoott and'a' J V ded. 'Thus,"a connection 51111115113130 the aforesa d connection 6 ishad;

* except that the'ba'r 12is 'slottedlffi The shank of the brake pedal 'c'arries a" de'pendingfwt -and a connecting link 18 of U-forinis connected therewith. 'jllhelink is shown inFigure 8, and by -observing this it. will be 'seen' gthat the laterally[directed ends of the same arejapertured and extended through openings in the'foot 1'4 andriank arm '9 respectively, cotter pii'is'beingpassed .through the apertures jin the, 'link;j"i"Byrofi setting-the arms of the bell crank and disk "posing the link 18 in the position'shoivng, suificient clearance isprovided between the part-S to prevent possiblejbinding"or,inter ference with easy operation. 7'

The portion 1930f the belliorankiis'ofh enlarged forirnand is provided with a se nicircular groove for reception of'a portion 7 of the usual clutch shaft upon"which it is adapted to be clamped. Moreover, as shown in Figure 2, a clamp QOPisbolted' to the bell crank and serves tohokl it loosely in position on this-clutchshaift; -jlhe clamp tion.

carries a horizontal arm 21 having an upstanding free endportion'22 adapted to eX- tend up into close proximity to the intermediate portion of. the aforesaid l er to prevent accidental longitudinal shifting or displacement of the bell .crairk intone direc- From the foregoing description itis ohvious that when the brake pedal 1 is depressed, the foot 17 is rocked rearwarilly, exerting a' corresponding tlnust upon the forward arm'9of the hell crank. As the bell Crank is thus rocked, it exerts .a rearward pull upon the connection provided byythe bar12, and rod 15. This direction of pull moves the clutch pedal forwardly from high speed into neutral position. Theflparts are accuratelyproportioned to accomplish this end with, afvery powerful leverage so that even though the return spring of the high speed pedal Innst'be counteracted, suiiicient and strong leverage is provided to accomplish this" without undue pressure. It is obvious also that in the event it is desired topush the clutch pedal down or forwardly, this maybe done owing to the slotted connection between the same'and the hell crank; This type of connection permits this action to take place without effecting any movement whatsoever of the brake pedal. Elttenti'on is now'called to a slightly different embodiment of the invention 'shov.*n more plainly in Figures 4 and In connection with these figures, Iwoul'd' state that iii-1e reference characters are employed in these, two figures as Well as the first tires figures to designate identical For instance, it will be noted that the'hell crank 8 appears here and is provided with the diverging offset arms 9' and 10 respectively; Further, thearni 10 carries aconnection pin 11., and

, there is a connection 18 between the depending part 17 of the brake pedal and the arm 9. The pedals are represented by the same reference characters. This s also true of the parts 5 and 6. In this co nection the link is represented by the reference character 14?, the same having an elongated sloth sl'id'ably connected with the pin 11. The opposite endflof the link however is down i turned as indicated at '23- and adjacent this dewn; turi' ed end it is provided with longh tud'inally spaced holes adjust hly con nected" with the" depending lega 0 hep ii 3. The removable plate 20 of the clamp is provided with the parts 21'. and addition is provided with a dep tension 25;. Then there is n 'ejit nection between this e'xte and in the'la'st named 0f'.which is formedwith an elongated slot 28 connected with a lateral pin- 29uon the; extension 25. The operation of this embodiment of the invention is identical with .t h'z'it' ibefore described, the only diiference'being that the last named constr 'uc-tion isms-re rigid and probably more positive in its action.

It is thought that a careful consideration of the description in connection with the drawings"will enable persons-skilled in the art to which theinvent'ion relates to obtain a clear understandingof the same. Therefore a more lengthy "descri 'ation is thought unnecessary.

lVhile the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is to'loe understood that minor changes C011} ing within the field of. invention claimed may be resorted to if desired.

Having'thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecii're by Letters Patent is 1. In combination,a clutch shaft, a brake pedal, a clutch pedal, a connection between the brake pedal and clutch shaft, a connection between the clutch pedal andthe first named. connection, said second connection bein slidably: connected with the first connection,an oscillatory lever mounted on said shaft, and connecting: means between the lever and clutch pedal.

In combination, a horizontal shaft, a

bell crank loosely mounted on said shaft.

for rocking movement, apivotally mounted brake pedal, a connection between'one arm of the loel'l crank and said brake pedal, a pivota'lly mounted clutch pedal, a connection connected at one end with the clutch pedal andsl'i'cla hly' connected at its opposite end to the other arm of said hell crank, an oscillatory lever mounted on said clutch shaft, and connecting ni'eansbetween said lever and clutch pedal.

3. Asa new manufacture, a bell crank a'c'lapted to be mounted for rocking move-- ment upon a clutch shaft, said hell crank including an attaching clamp and, a pair of i y diverging arms, one of said arms being ofl et laterally and provided with an angul a v Clfl'i'QCtQCi 13111, a ll. k connected-to the other arm, said link being at lpted to be connected with a brake pedal, and an ad;

justable connectioi'i. 'inclu ing a slotted liar,

7;: my signa'ti'irc.

(i. T0 OTLIJ. 

